If you're like most people you have goals in life you strive to achieve. Some goals are easily accomplished, others take a lifetime to make reality. Some never come true, like my boyhood dream of playing Major League Baseball with my best friend Dave Osborne. Neither of us made the big leagues. Hell, we never even tried! But for a few boyhood years it was our sole reason for being.
For me writing a novel has been a goal I've had since I realized writing would become my life. I am trained in journalism and every time I sit down to compose a story I get an unbelievable rush. The first time I had a news story published the positive rush that consumed my whole being was unlike any feeling I've ever experienced. I wondered how long that feeling would last or whether I'd get jaded like so many in the industry do and just stop giving a damn. It hasn't happened. To this day the rush is the same each and every time I file a story.
The longer I've spent time in journalism the more my job description has changed. Reporters become editors and once that happens you edit more than you write. Part of the reason you do this is for the money. Editors make it, reporters don't. For those reporters who stick it out for the long haul I applaud you.
To make up for my reduced writing time at work I've spent a considerable number of hours in my spare time doing creative writing, blogging and journaling. In May 2010 I started my novel, Forest of Fear.
When I started this project I had no idea how long it would take. Writing a novel was not like writing a news story or feature. It took me a lot of time, planning and character development to get it underway. Once it got started there was constant interruptions that I would characterize as 'life'. But I persevered and a few days ago I put the final touches on my rough draft. When I took my hands off the keyboard and pulled back my chair I couldn't believe it was actually done. Seventy-five thousand words, the most I've strung together at once in my life. What a rush!
Is the project complete? Not by a long shot. It's going to take a lot of re-writing and editing before I'm happy with it. Then the hard part begins, shopping it to agents and publishers. I've only heard horror stories about the process so we'll see how it goes when I get to that point.
For now though my goal of finishing a novel is complete. Cross that one of my bucket list!
Prior to Christmas I attended the DarkLit Festival and participated in a pitch session where I was allowed to sit down with a publisher and wax poetic about my novel. Here's a synopsis of the novel I submitted. See what you think.
Forest of Fear
Derek Mitchell cannot shake his recurrent nightmares. He’s always running in a futile attempt to elude the monster he calls the Bad Man. Lately, he’s terrorized awake by the evil he witnesses as the Bad Man hunts down and murders those around him. That or the daylight chases away the Bad Man. Or does it?
When Derek’s nightmares manifest into reality and Dugood residents begin to go missing he’s convinced he’s lost his mind. His nightmares are just that, bad dreams, they’re not real. But the presence that’s haunting him is real and so far the only other witness to it is Donna Sinclair. When the Bad Man turns on Donna, Derek knows there’s only one thing to do – confront his nightmare.
As an investigative reporter Danny Mack has broken dozens of award winning stories in the Dugood Journal. When the local economy is shuttered by the economic downturn he’s forced from his city beat to the obituaries. It’s a humbling demotion for sure but one he hopes will be short-lived when he’s able to break the story about the mysterious disappearances of a number of residents. When his best friend and girlfriend go missing however, Danny can no longer be objective in his pursuit of this story. He needs help and he finds it in Derek Mitchell.
Together the two men uncover another world, a place where the living meets the dead and where all hope will be lost unless they can get back home. But the only way to do that is by escaping the Bad Man and ending the horror plaguing the town.
